The delay in the Masahiro Tanaka sweepstakes hasn’t just affected the Japanese right-hander and teams such as the Yankees who are interested in pursuing the 25-year-old.
It is being felt throughout the free-agent starting pitching landscape.
“It has to have an impact,” said Terry Bross, who represents Bronson Arroyo, a pitcher who also could fit into the Yankees’ (and the Mets’) offseason plans. “He’s a marquee pitcher and right now he’s not in the marketplace and no one is sure what’s going to happen.”
Tanaka would be one of the top prizes available if he were to be posted by his Japanese team, something that seemed to be a foregone conclusion early in the week.
But complications arose when Nippon Professional Baseball was unable to ratify changes to the posting system before Thursday’s owners meetings in Orlando, Fla.
Now small-market MLB teams are unsure they want the current system to continue and instead would like to see posting fees count against the luxury tax, which is not the case currently.
For pitchers like Arroyo, the details are not as important as the end result.
“It’s going to take some time for the market to develop, but you want to know what the market is,” said Bross, who has not heard from either New York team. “We’re all waiting for the first domino to fall, whether it’s a free-agent signing or for Tanaka to be posted and for someone to win the post.”
The possibility exists, although it is unlikely, that no agreement will be reached and Tanaka will have to remain in Japan until he becomes a free agent in 2015.
In the meantime, Arroyo, and other free-agent starting pitchers wait.
“No one’s hands are tied,” Bross said. “There’s still not much pitching and there is a lot of money out there, so no one is being prevented from signing anyone. But this does complicate things.”
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The Yankees have interest in left-hander Javier Lopez, The Post confirmed. With Boone Logan a free agent, the Yankees will likely need a lefty out of the bullpen, since untested Cesar Cabral would be their only option. … The Yankees announced they will play their first spring training game on Feb. 25 at 1:05 p.m., against Florida State University at Steinbrenner Field. They open the regular spring training schedule Feb. 26 in Bradenton, Fla., against the Pirates.
Season tickets for Yankees’ spring training home games go on sale Monday and individual-game tickets go on sale Jan. 10.